Norfolk house price rise warning due to nutrient neutrality

South Norfolk Council leader John Fuller and Breckland District Council leader Sam Chapman-Allen are among leaders trying to pile pressure on the prime minister over the issue of nutrient neutrality.

Sam Chapman-Allen, leader of Breckland District Council (Image: Breckland District Council)

The Conservative pair - and eight other senior leaders from councils of various political hues - have written to Mr Sunak calling for him to intervene to end the 17-month limbo which has blocked councils from granting planning permission for thousands of new homes.

They say 41,000 homes across Norfolk have been put on hold because of the issue and that local builders' merchants have laid off staff.

John Fuller, leader of South Norfolk Council (Image: Archant)

READ MORE: How two words left Norfolk's plans for thousands of homes in limbo

Councils across much of Norfolk were told by government advisors Natural England last March that they could not permit planning applications for homes within the catchment areas of the River Wensum and the Broads.

Council leaders warn up to £10,000 could be added to the price tag of new Norfolk homes because of the nutrient neutrality issue (Image: Chris Bishop)

The halt was because of fears extra nutrients created by homes could go into waterways and harm species.

Councils were told they could not give housing schemes the go-ahead until mitigation measures were in place.

Council bosses hope a new scheme, through a joint venture with Anglian Water, will allow housebuilders to 'offset' the impact of developments by buying 'credits' to fund mitigation measures and mean decisions can be made later this year.

The Natural England directive aims to protect the Broads and river Wensum from pollution (Image: Mike Page)

But the District Council's Network members said, in areas where mitigation measures are already up and running, developers have pushed up house prices to compensate for their extra costs.

READ MORE: Norfolk new homes could be accelerated by borrowing £20m

The letter states: "As a result of the mitigation packages being implemented by a range of councils, new homes are typically £4,000 to £10,000 more expensive for first-time buyers and other local people who desperately need good, affordable housing."

According to Rightmove, the overall average price of a home in Norfolk was £314,367 last year.

Prime minister Rishi Sunak (Image: POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

The leaders call on Mr Sunak to shift the "burden of cleaning our rivers" away from councils and back to organisations such as Natural England, the Environment Agency and water companies.

The price of new homes will increase due to the nutrient neutrality issue, council leaders have warned (Image: Mike Page)

A government spokesman said it recognised the urgency of the issue and had taken "substantial steps" to unlock housing, while addressing nutrient pollution.